Aulis
Aulis was the harbour in Boeotia where the Greek fleet of over a thousand ships assembled before sailing to Troy — and where Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to gain favourable winds.
The Story of Aulis
The entire Greek armada gathered at Aulis, but contrary winds sent by Artemis kept the fleet trapped in harbour. The seer Calchas revealed that Agamemnon had offended Artemis by killing a deer in her sacred grove and boasting he was a better hunter than the goddess. The only remedy was the sacrifice of his eldest daughter Iphigenia. Agamemnon lured her to Aulis under the pretence of marriage to Achilles. In some versions she was sacrificed; in others, Artemis substituted a deer at the last moment and spirited her away to Tauris. The sacrifice haunted the house of Atreus — Clytemnestra never forgave her husband and murdered him upon his return from Troy.
Symbols
Explore Further
Scheria
🏛 placeLand of the Phaeacians
Scheria was the island of the Phaeacians, a seafaring people beloved by the gods, where the shipwrecked Odysseus was welcomed by King Alcinous and Princess Nausicaa.
Sestos
🏛 placeGeography
A city on the European shore of the Hellespont, home of Hero in the tale of Hero and Leander
Iphigenia
🗡 heroPrincess sacrificed for the Trojan War
Iphigenia was Agamemnon's eldest daughter, sacrificed at Aulis to gain winds for Troy — or rescued at the last moment by Artemis and whisked to Tauris.
Thrinacia
🏛 placetaboo, cattle
The mythical island where the sacred cattle of Helios grazed, whose slaughter by Odysseus's starving crew brought divine destruction.
Methone
🏛 placegeography
A Macedonian coastal town where the archer Aster shot out the eye of Philip II — and mythologically associated with Ariadne.
Cape Sounion
🏛 placeworship, sea
The dramatic headland at the southern tip of Attica crowned by the Temple of Poseidon, where Aegeus watched for Theseus's returning ship.
Salamis
🏛 placeGeography
An island in the Saronic Gulf where the Greeks won a decisive naval victory over Persia and where Ajax was king
Phthia
🏛 placeGeography
The homeland of Achilles in southern Thessaly, ruled by his father Peleus
Sacrifice of Iphigenia
💭 conceptsacrifice, wind
Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter at Aulis to appease Artemis and gain favourable winds for the Greek fleet to sail to Troy.
Abydos
🏛 placeGeography
An ancient city on the Hellespont famous as the launching point of Xerxes' bridge and the home of Leander
Sicyon
🏛 placeGeography
An ancient city near Corinth claiming to be one of the oldest in Greece and site of Prometheus's sacrifice trick
Pherae
🏛 placeGeography
A city in Thessaly where Admetus ruled and Alcestis chose to die in her husband's place